Faith & Social Justice: In the spirit of Richard Overton and the 17th C. Levellers

Labor Day and Worker Justice

In honor of the U.S. celebration of workers and organized labor, Labor Day, (comparable to May Day in many nations), here are a few of the bills in the U.S. Congress that will affect workers and/or businesses:

H.R. 2, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. This act was passed by both the House and the Senate. It incrementally raises the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour, with the final stage taking place in July 2009.

S.367, the Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act. This act prohibits the “import, export, and sale of goods made with sweatshop labor”

S.766, the Paycheck Fairness Act, “to provide more effective remedies of victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex”

You can read the full bills at the links, then, like good citizens, write, phone, or email your Congressional Reps. and Senators and tell them what you think of each. In the case of the Fair Minimum Wage Act, I plan on contacting the White House and urging President Bush not to veto the bill, then contact Congress and tell them to be prepared to override a veto if necessary.

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About

Michael L. Westmoreland-White, Ph.D. I live in Louisville, KY USA with my wife, Kate, and our two wonderful daughters. My wife, Kate, is a Baptist minister who works at a Catholic charity (the Society of St. Vincent de Paul) to provide assisted housing to homeless people. Our daughters are Molly (’95) and Miriam (’99). I am a former soldier converted to gospel nonviolence and a once (and future?) academic theologian turned peace activist, author, and peace educator. Contact me at mlw-w@insightbb.com

The Levellers were a 17th C. movement during the English Civil War. They were a religiously-inspired political movement for democracy, human rights, justice for the poor, and peace. Their strongest leader was Richard Overton, a pacifist General Baptist influenced by Dutch Mennonites. Although I write on a wide range of topics, most often this blog deals with the intersection of faith, especially Christian faith, and work for social justice and peace. So, I have named the blog and dedicated it to the spirit of Richard Overton and the 17th C. Levellers.

Rules for commenting on this blog: 1) Respect everyone, even when you disagree strongly. 2) Keep comments relatively short. If you need a long post on your own blog, I’ll follow you there to see what more you have to say. 3) Stay on topic, please. 4) Don’t hog the conversation; let others have a turn. 5) This is a family-friendly blog. No profanity or language that my children and your children cannot read, please. Failure to follow these simple rules could lead me to removing your comment(s).